Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Hilton executives and shareholders and leaders from the Georgia World Congress Center Authority came together to celebrate the grand opening of the Signia by Hilton Atlanta hotel in downtown on Thursday afternoon, the largest ground-up hotel development the city has seen in four decades.

Lauded for its close proximity to signature Atlanta landmarks like State Farm Arena, Centennial Olympic Park and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the 976-room, 40-story hotel features eight food and beverage establishments, over 100,000 square feet of event space and the largest hotel ballroom in the entire state, while standing as the tallest building on the city’s westside.

“Today, our championship campus is a beacon of inspiration, showcasing what can be achieved when visionary leadership, dedicated teams and supportive communities come together,” said Brian Daniel, chair of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority’s Board of Governors. “We didn’t just build something. We’ve shaped the future of hosting events and economic development on the west side of Atlanta.”

Construction of the Signia began in May of 2021, after the GWCCA officially selected Hilton as the hotel’s operator in 2020. Although, the project’s earliest stages trace back to over a decade ago, under the governance of Kemp’s predecessor, Nathan Deal, who was also present for Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting.

Gov. Kemp, in his remarks, thanked the former governor for his approval and backing of the hotel since its inception, stating that the current condition of Georgia’s economy and the state’s national status are direct results of his leadership.

“(Deal) certainly laid the groundwork for this unprecedented position that we’re in today,” Kemp said. “This project was first conceived during his time in office, and he supported it knowing this facility would be an essential part of attracting visitors and businesses to our state.”

The ceremony’s speakers reiterated that Georgia is defined by both its capacity for tourism and its ability to attract economic opportunity on a national scale. Daniel said that Georgia has been recognized as the best state in America to do business for 10 consecutive years and that the tourism industry stands as the state’s second-largest economy.

Atlanta specifically stands as Hilton’s largest international market. Kemp said the city is home to 136 Hilton hotels belonging to 13 brands and that an additional 40 hotels in the area are currently in development. Chris Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, also identified Atlanta as the company’s “most important market”, with the Signia serving as the first newly-built hotel of its kind in the world.

“We (operate in) 130 countries around the world, but very few (properties), if any, are as important as this and have the kind of impact that this has,” Nassetta said. “This is one of the best properties we have in the world amongst any of our 22 brands.”

Nassetta also said that the hotel brings approximately 800 permanent jobs to Atlanta, many of which are already filled by employees entirely new to the hospitality industry.

“It really is wonderful to be here to celebrate,” Nassetta said. “I think (the Signia’s completion) is a milestone for Atlanta and a milestone for the state of Georgia.”

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Interest rates for mortgages, which reached their highest point in more than two decades this past October, have experienced a downward trend for the past several weeks, a promising sign for aspiring homebuyers looking to purchase early this year.

Despite mortgage rates and prices for homes last month lingering above values measured at the end of 2022, analysts expect the decline will motivate more buyers to enter the housing market in 2024.

According to the government-sponsored mortgage financing company Freddie Mac, the rate to acquire a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage in the country averaged at 6.61% on Thursday, December 28, a 0.06 percent decrease from the previous week and a decrease of just over half a percentage point compared to four weeks prior.

The year ended with the 30-year mortgage rate nearly two tenths of a percentage point higher than the rate calculated at the end of 2022. However, the rate adjusted by its smallest margin in six weeks, with the weekly average not having seen a change of 0.06% since the week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 16.

“The rapid descent of mortgage rates over the last two months stabilized a bit this week, but rates continue to trend down,” said chief economist at Freddie Mac Sam Khater about the Dec. 28 averages. “Heading into the new year, the economy remains on firm ground with solid growth, a tight labor market, decelerating inflation and a nascent rebound in the housing market.”

Prospective buyers appear to have responded to the fall in mortgage rates positively.

A December report from real estate company Redfin states that the number of submitted mortgage applications has increased 19% since the beginning of November, when the total had reached its lowest point in roughly 30 years. The report also suggests that interest rates are likely to remain below 7% as the new year progresses.

“The last week of economic news and data makes it more likely than not that mortgage rates have peaked,” said economic research lead at Redfin, Chen Zhao, about the report. “Buyers will return from the holidays with more homes to choose from, and they should still see rates in the mid-6% range.”

Still, mortgage rates could rise again this year. Although unlikely, Zhao said the Federal Reserve may choose to reverse the direction of interest rates as a cautionary measure at some point in 2024, depending on the state of inflation in the country.

The 30-year rate increased slightly to 6.62% this week, per Freddie Mac, bringing a halt to consistent downward progress in the first week of the new year.

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Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens took his place behind a podium under a red, white, green, and gold balloon trellis inside the new West Cascade Park Friday afternoon. The mayor was there to officially cut the ribbon to the park and as he thanked the people in attendance he paused. Children were already playing on the park’s small playground by the time the ceremony started.

“I love that in the background you hear children laughing and playing,” Dickens said. “That’s what we have this here for.”

The last of the city’s neighborhood planning units (NPU) to get a park was officially scratched off the list this afternoon. West Cascade Park, one of the most historic and affluent mostly-Black neighborhoods in the city, now has a park to call its own. The 12-acre park is located on Danforth Road and includes a nearly one-mile-long walking trail that cuts through the park and near a creek.

The construction was handled by Black-owned Coweta County-based firm, Asque’s Construction & Home Improvement, and began in late 2020 following the demolition of a home that was in the center of the property. During the Bottoms administration there were plans to bring green space to the West Cascade Park neighborhood where Bottoms and her husband bought their first home in 1995 and has lived ever since. As a city councilmember she said she fought to get that done, but had more power to actually make the project happen when she elected as the city’s 60th mayor in 2017. Bottoms recalled seeing the for sale sign on the property and immediately getting in touch within the proper channels about buying the house and beginning the project.

Dickens said green spaces have a direct effect on a community’s health – both mental and physical- and “this one will ensure an exceptional experience for all visitors.”

The mayor credited Overstreet for spearheading the project after he took over at City Hall. Overstreet, an Atlanta native, said she handpicked the playground equipment and said the playground at Westside Park was her inspiration.

“The West Cascade Park project is a legacy project,” said Overstreet. She added that having this green space open is “addresses a significant gap in this neighborhood.”

The total construction budget was $3 million with more than two-thirds of the park being flood proof.

“This literally is a game-changer for our community,” Bottoms said.

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As the greater Atlanta area’s rental market continues to prosper in the aftermath of the pandemic, property managers are extending benefits to renters in attempts to set their apartment communities apart from those of competitors.

In a November research report from Zillow, Atlanta was listed as the metro area offering the 10th largest share of rental concessions to prospective tenants, joining similarly expanding cities Phoenix, Nashville and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rental concessions can appeal to target demographics by offering monetary or service-based privileges when leasing with a specific company, including, but not limited to, complimentary utilities, discounts on rent and free or discounted access to various on-site or off-site amenities.

Per Zillow data, 43.5% of the metro area’s rental properties offer concessions to potential renters, a statistic that has increased by 15.2 percentage points since 12 months prior. To compare, around 30% of Zillow’s national database of rental listings was advertised to offer concessions to renters this past October.

Anushna Prakash, an economic research data scientist at Zillow, said in the report that an increase in available supply sparked by a surge in multifamily property construction gives renters more leverage in the market, encouraging property managers to grant renters additional benefits to gain their tenancy.

“The pandemic era’s increase in concessions was a direct response to decreased renter demand. Currently, we’re witnessing a different scenario where the demand for rental housing is high, but there’s been a notable rise in supply,” Prakash said. “To differentiate themselves from newer, potentially more amenity-rich apartment buildings, property managers are stepping up their game, offering more incentives to attract potential renters with a broader range of choices.”

This correlation is especially evident in Atlanta. According to a mid-year construction update from private student lender Sallie Mae, Atlanta saw approximately 35,000 rental units completed in the years 2022 and 2023 combined. An additional 14,573 units are slated for completion in 2024 and another 2,851 units are on deck for thereafter.

This study, featuring data from Dodge Data & Analytics, predicts that Atlanta will house more than 52,000 additional rental units delivered since 2022.

Per this metric, the metro area also ranks sixth overall for multifamily rental construction progress in the nation, falling only behind New York City, Washington, D.C. and three of Texas’ hottest housing markets: Houston, Austin and Dallas.

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Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta City Councilwoman Andrea Boone and representatives from various local housing organizations came together Monday afternoon to celebrate the reopening of a newly renovated affordable housing complex located on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

James Allen Jr. Place, originally known as the Hightower Manor Apartments, was remodeled by the Atlanta-based Columbia Residential, a real estate development and management company that specializes in delivering affordable multifamily housing options to seniors and middle- and low-income families.

The building is named after the late James Allen, Jr., a beloved and respected member of the community and a former employee and board commissioner at Atlanta Housing for more than 40 years.

“Mr. Allen passed away before he could see the beautiful results we have here today,” said Carmen Chubb, president of Columbia Residential, in opening remarks. “But this community is named in his honor to recognize his lasting impact and his work.”

The refurbished James Allen Jr. Place consists of 129 one-bedroom apartment units designed to accommodate seniors aged 55 and older, as well as disabled tenants with no age restrictions.

The renovation added a movie theater, package room and arts and crafts room to the property’s list of existing amenities, which include an updated community room, laundry room, computer room and fitness center. Developers also added a primary health care clinic to the complex’s lower level, which will exclusively serve the residents of the building. Preventive care provider Matter Health will staff and operate the clinic.

The preservation of the James Allen Jr. Place community brings the mayor another 129 units closer to his goal for affordable housing in the city, which is to build or preserve a total of 20,000 affordable housing units within a span of eight years.

Mayor Dickens said that construction projects like James Allen Jr. Place are made possible through collaborations between city leadership and local organizations willing to invest in the future of Atlanta’s housing.

“No government can solve housing on its own,” Dickens said. “This is indeed a group project and it requires us to have significant partnerships and strong partners. And in Atlanta, we have mastered that part of it to be able to do things together.”

Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Housing and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs each allocated funding for the redevelopment, which cost approximately $36 million altogether. Wells Fargo handled the equity and financing for construction.

“Thanks to the efforts and commitment of multiple organizations, this nearly 40-year-old building has undergone massive renovation so that 129 units can serve as home,” said Boone, who represents the city’s tenth district. “Home is where memories are made. Home is where you rest. Home is special.”

James Allen Jr. Place is currently accepting new tenants, prioritizing former residents of Hightower Manor who were relocated to renovate the property. Chubb said that 31 residents have already moved into the community and that James Allen Jr. Place is expected to reach full capacity by the end of this year.

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Atlanta ZIP code 30309 made RentCafe’s list of the top 50 ZIP codes featuring the highest shares of newly completed apartments in the country, joining ZIP codes based in Florida, New York and California.

The postal code, which comprises many Midtown neighborhoods and a portion of Piedmont Park, placed seventh in the ranking based on the number of apartment completions recorded between the years 2018 and 2022.

According to data from Yardi Matrix, 30309 saw 5,397 apartments finished during the four-year time frame, bringing the total number of apartments in the area to 13,691. This growth signifies a positive change of 65.1% since 2017.

Atlanta’s 30309 falls behind ZIP codes within fellow southern metros Nashville and Dallas to assume the seventh-place position, each of which saw increases of about 6,800 and 5,900 apartment units, respectively.

The two ZIP codes seeing the highest increase in new apartments nationwide are both located in Washington, D.C.

This surplus in rental units isn’t limited to a few select cities. America’s rental market gained approximately 1.2 million new apartment units over the four-year time span. The 50 ZIP codes with the highest apartment completion rates are scattered across the Northeast, Southeast and West.

The study states that this national boom in rental construction appeals mostly to younger workers with high wages looking to move to urban cores rather than suburban communities. The significant surge in available apartments allows renters more flexibility when choosing a place to live, which cuts down on rental competition and increases the likelihood of renters ending up with a unit and amenities they enjoy.

Within Atlanta alone, postal codes 30318 and 30312 round up the metro area’s top-three zip codes for apartment completions, which comprise much of the city’s westside and sections of popular neighborhoods Old Fourth Ward, Sweet Auburn and Grant Park. These ZIP codes also ranked 28th and 36th nationally. Postal codes in Duluth and Suwanee also make RentCafe’s Atlanta list, placing eighth and ninth in the localized ranking.

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The Justice Department’s Combating Redlining Initiative announced the recovery of over $107 million in relief for communities of color nationwide who have long suffered from unfair lending practices. Within the sum, the Department unveiled a $9 million agreement with Ameris Bank, aimed at rectifying allegations of redlining primarily in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida.

Redlining, a prohibited practice, involves lenders withholding credit services from individuals in communities of color based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.

“Today’s case underscores that redlining remains a contemporary issue,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a news release, emphasizing the initiative’s ongoing importance. “The Justice Department is committed to rectifying the harm caused by discriminatory lending practices, with over two dozen active investigations underway across the nation.”

In October 2021, Garland launched the Combating Redlining Initiative, marking the Department’s most comprehensive endeavor to combat this systemic issue. The initiative collaborates with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, federal financial regulatory agencies, and state Attorneys General offices to enforce federal fair lending laws, including the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Since its inception, officials have secured ten settlements with financial institutions, facilitating increased credit access for communities of color in various cities, including Houston, Memphis, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville. The DOJ said the settlements have empowered marginalized communities, enabling them to pursue homeownership, a right unjustly denied them for far too long.

Ameris Bank later reached a resolution in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, contingent on court approval. The DOJ’s complaint alleged that Ameris Bank deliberately excluded majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville from its mortgage services, steering applicants away from home loans. The bank’s lending focus disproportionately favored white areas of the city.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stressed the significance of combating modern-day redlining, noting that it fosters equal economic opportunity and enables communities of color to fulfill the American Dream.

“Combating modern-day redlining is one of the most important strategies for ensuring equal economic opportunity today,” Clarke stated. “By taking on the discriminatory lending practices of banks and mortgage companies, we are helping to ensure that more Black, Hispanic, and other communities of color are able to buy a home, generate wealth, and fulfill the American Dream. This settlement marks a new pinnacle in our efforts to bring an end to redlining and provides.”

U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida heralded the agreement with Ameris Bank as a historic moment, signaling a positive shift for Black and Hispanic communities previously denied vital economic resources.

“For far too long, redlining has negatively impacted communities of color across our country,” Handberg asserted. “Today’s agreement with Ameris Bank represents the first redlining case brought by the Department of Justice in the state of Florida and signals a step forward for Black and Hispanic communities in Jacksonville that were previously denied access to economic resources for generations. This settlement means that Ameris Bank will provide financial remedies to Jacksonville’s underserved communities, and it demonstrates our commitment to guaranteeing equal access to housing and credit resources for all Americans.”

Under the proposed consent order, Ameris Bank will invest $9 million to expand credit opportunities in Jacksonville. This includes a $7.5 million loan subsidy fund for residents of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, $900,000 for targeted outreach, and $600,000 for community partnerships to bolster access to residential mortgage credit. Additionally, Ameris Bank will open a branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood, allocate at least three mortgage loan officers to serve these communities, and implement comprehensive compliance measures.

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Towering between the Georgia World Congress Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, construction is nearing completion at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta hotel in downtown, now the tallest building on Atlanta’s westside and the city’s largest ground-up hotel project in four decades.

Once finished, the 42-floor, 976-room destination will offer state-of-the-art amenities and experiences to guests in town for business, sporting events, and other sources of entertainment.

Owned by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the hotel will offer easy access to the 1.5 million-square-foot convention center, connecting to the facility from the inside on two separate floors. Signia by Hilton Atlanta is also located steps away from prominent Atlanta landmarks like Centennial Olympic Park and State Farm Arena and will offer guests views of the Atlanta skyline, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the city’s historic Vine City neighborhood from their rooms.

Evita McDaniels, director of marketing for Signia by Hilton Atlanta, said that intentionality was a key concept in the developers’ vision for the hotel, as displayed through the hotel’s open layout and seamless flow.

The first five floors of the hotel will feature amenities all visitors will be able to take advantage of, including high-end restaurants, spa facilities, a pool terrace, fitness center, and Club Signia, an exclusive lounge offered as part of a privileges program reserved for top-paying guests. Signia by Hilton is also expected to feature the largest hotel ballroom in the entire state, measuring approximately 40,000 square feet.

Gary Holness, director of property operations for Signia by Hilton Atlanta, said accessibility is another important factor shaping the hotel’s design. Resources like food and beverage stations will be placed throughout Signia by Hilton Atlanta to best serve visitors using the hotel’s conference rooms, ballrooms and other public spaces.

Kenny Monteith, senior marketing manager at Signia by Hilton, said the hotel will accommodate guests paying for stays as well as those searching for a place to spend time before or after events at nearby venues. Signia by Hilton will feature its own separate sports bar on its fourth floor, which will offer 27 local, statewide and nationally renowned brands of beer on tap, as well as sophisticated takes on classic bar foods and Atlanta eats.

McDaniels also said that the hotel will offer modern and sophisticated design elements to guests while paying homage to Atlanta and the state of Georgia’s rich cultural history, naming specific rooms and spaces after influential public figures connected to the area, including former President Jimmy Carter and famed civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

Signia by Hilton is expected to open its doors at the beginning of next year, currently accepting reservations for large groups starting on January 12. The hotel will open to the rest of the public on February 2.

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As peak rental season nears a close, new supply added over the course of the pandemic has helped ease apartment searching for prospective renters and current residents in the metro Atlanta area, making the city less competitive for tenants compared to others like it.

According to a recent report from RentCafe based on data from Yardi Matrix, the city falls behind coastal cities and markets in the Midwest in the lineup of the most competitive rental markets across the country.

Atlanta is also home to the least competitive rental market of the Georgia cities accounted for in the study. RentCafe assigned the city a rental competitivity index of 37, falling far behind the markets topping the company’s list, like Milwaukee, Wisconsin with an RCI of 116 and Miami-Dade County with an index of 122. Researchers considered the rental occupancy rate, the share of available apartments, the duration of unit vacancy, the percentage of renewed leases, and the number of applicants per vacant unit to determine each rental market’s competitivity index.

Even Atlanta’s suburbs to the north outperformed the city in terms of competition among renters. Using RentCafe’s methodology, the suburban cities scored a combined RCI of 50, still paling in comparison to smaller markets in the state like Columbus and Savannah, with RCIs measuring at 71 and 77, respectively.

The suburban market’s occupancy rate just barely eclipses Atlanta’s, coming in at 92.8%, roughly one percentage point above the city’s rate of 91.9%.

Even as greater Atlanta’s population expands, the local rental market remains relatively uncompetitive due to an increase in available supply, helping balance the city’s growing demand for housing.

Metro Atlanta was home to the country’s eighth-largest surge in apartment construction from 2020 to 2022, a surplus that saw more than a million new rental units completed nationwide. Roughly 39,500 new apartment units were added to the metro area’s total rental supply in the three-year time span, about 40% of which were constructed outside of Atlanta’s city limits. An additional 18,400 units are anticipated for completion by the end of this year, ranking the metro Atlanta area fifth in the nation for apartment competitions in 2023.

Though Atlanta’s suburbs saw roughly 16,000 units added to its total housing supply during the peak pandemic years, the surplus wasn’t enough to reduce competitivity to fall behind city occupancy rates. The suburbs also saw a larger share of lease renewals compared to the rental market representing the city limits, with approximately 4% more tenants in Atlanta’s outskirts choosing to stay in place this year.

The increase in available supply has also helped soften the effects of renter demand on a national scale. Occupancy rates decreased by 1.3 percentage points from last year to this year, weighing in at 94% at the time of the rental season’s peak.

More supply leads to weaker competition over the limited number of rental units available on the market, making it easier for renters to secure a unit after applying. According to the study, roughly 10 renters competed for a vacant unit in the country this season, compared to 15 renters competing last year.

Flexibility in the rental market also allows renters to be more selective in choosing a place to live, giving them the time and freedom to weigh options before signing a lease and to relocate when they want without fear of running out of alternatives. Fewer renters nationwide renewed their leases in 2023, and individual units remained vacant longer this year compared to the year before.

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The Atlanta BeltLine announced its purchase of roughly 14 acres of land in southwest Atlanta last month, a parcel situated along University Avenue just west of Interstate 85.

Valued at $13.3 million, the acquisition is an early step in the BeltLine’s plan to develop available space lining the Southside Trail with the intention of bringing additional jobs and affordable housing to the Pittsburgh neighborhood.

“This is a catalytic opportunity to continue guiding equitable, inclusive and sustainable development in southwest Atlanta, which has many historically disinvested neighborhoods,” said Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of the BeltLine, in a statement. “Purchasing this parcel is another step that the Atlanta BeltLine is taking in our focus on righting historic wrongs that have left residents and communities behind in the face of city-wide growth.”

The parcel of land is also adjacent to Pittsburgh Yards, a mixed-use campus redeveloped to increase southwest Atlanta residents’ access to entrepreneurship and other economic pursuits. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, manager of Pittsburgh Yards, also oversees AECF Atlanta Realty LLC, the agency behind the sale.

According to a press release announcing the acquisition, the BeltLine’s future plans for the space will amplify the work already set in motion by Pittsburgh Yards, giving the facility assets to speed up the development process and relay resources more quickly to the workers and residents who’d benefit from them most.

“Pittsburgh Yards is committed to upholding its mission and showing reverence for the history of the land it calls home by continuing to grow equitable career, entrepreneurship and wealth-building opportunities for the neighborhood’s residents,” said Chantell Glenn, senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “The Atlanta BeltLine’s commitment to a community-driven development process was a priority for the sale and codified in the purchase and sale agreement.”

Glenn also said that tenants at Pittsburgh Yards still benefit from the facility’s proximity to the Southside Trail, as do members of the community who use the trail to venture between the Pittsburgh and Capitol View Manor neighborhoods.

“Approximately 40% of tenants and co-working members of The Nia Building are South Atlanta residents,” Glenn said. “Community engagement will remain a priority at Pittsburgh Yards — in current efforts and future development.”

The BeltLine will later form a committee for participating stakeholders and consult business owners and residents of surrounding neighborhoods on how to best repurpose the site. After hearing from the community, the BeltLine will issue a Request for Proposals, inviting developers to submit their own ideas to transform the property.

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